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Hello beautiful people! I believe your week is going on well. In this post, I want to share with you a decision that I took some years ago. Looking back now, I think I can rightly say that it is one of the best decisions I have ever made... that is, as far as I can remember.
A Little Bit About Myself
I am the kind of person that doesn't have too many friends, but the few friends I have always know me to be loyal to our friendship. Being a very sensitive person, I am always careful about what I say or do. But somehow, I found out that some of the friends I had didn't even care about my feelings when they say or do certain things to me.
For instance, a very close friend of mine used to almost always ask for my opinion whenever she had some decisions to take. Sometimes, the decision may have to do with money. At other times, it may be related to relationships.
The Trend I Noticed
As time went on, I observed that every time my advice or suggestion worked well for her, she would take credit for the success. On the other hand, if something goes wrong, she wouldn't stop blaming me. Imagine someone telling you over and over, "You were the one that advised me to do so and so". Or even saying things like, "I wish I hadn't listened to you."
My New Strategy
Those kinds of statements were painful to me, and I had to sit down with myself and think. Why would someone keep coming to me for advice only to turn back and blame me when things go wrong? What if my advice and suggestions end up landing me in big trouble? That last one was a bit scary, but it helped me come up with a new strategy, hehehe!
So each time this friend of mine came to me with any issue seeking my advice, I turned the flashlight on her. I would be like, "So what do YOU plan to do?" Or ,I would say, "You really have to think of a way!"
Taking Responsibility
It wasn't long before my friend realised that I had decided to make her start taking responsibility for her decisions and actions instead of using me and blaming me at the end.
I also learnt that whenever I dish out advice or suggestions to people, I should ask myself whether I am ready to bear the consequences if something went wrong. Till date, I prefer keeping my advice to myself to avoid stories that touch the heart. This singular decision has helped me a lot even in marriage.
I have written this post in response to the prompt given by @kenechukwu97 in The Thinker's Corner. Find out more in this post.
Thank you for reading. I, @ngwinndave authored this post. The photo in this post is a free-to-use image from pixabay.
Please, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and I will get back to you. Thank you once again.
